I have no choice
by Lumino
Summary: Sometimes the only thing we are able to say, is all we really need to. Edgar/Dinah, post game. Now Completed!
1. I have no choice

Hey all, been awhile since I wrote anything. I doubt anyone on still remembers me, but that's best I'd say. Anyway, I notice the lack of fanfictions for such a great game, Summon Night: Swordcraft Story 2, and I just had to do something about it. From the title you should be able to guess what this fic is about, but just in case.

This is a Post game (Not including bonus dungeons) fanfiction about Edgar and Dinah. I am starting at their ending in case anyone reading has not seen it.

Annoying Person: But they are like 12-14, you can't put them in a romantic situation!

Ok, if you go out at 14 years old and save the freaking planet in less the two weeks, I won't pass judgement on you. I don't think anyone in the game has any right to yell at them. Adventures make you grow up, ya know? Regardless, it's time to get started with this travesty of a wonderful game.

"I have no choice."

Chapter 1

* * *

Edgar had a hard time believing what had just happened the day before. It seemed like this whole mess had taken years. Ryouga and Lynn being Summon Creatures, meeting Gabriel, Xeride, Toumei and Nina. All the fighting, and searching he had done, to seal Goura and to save Master Blaire. But in truth, he had resolved this worldwide catastrophe in just over a week. It was ridiculous that so many important things could have happened in such a short time. And in the end, nothing turned out like he had imagined it would. Goura was not the cause of the evil, and left peacefully, Ryouga and Lynn recovered as well, and left the town. It was at this spot, just twelve hours earlier, that Edgar saw Ryouga for the last time. The thought was bittersweet at best, but Edgar managed to push the feeling of regret out of his mind. He had done all he could. He couldn't expect the villagers to forgive Ryouga and Lynn as easily as he had. But now was not the time to think about what could not be changed, there was much work to do now, after all a Craft knights work is never done so long as there are weapons to be made. And here he was staring out over the horizon, standing where his house once stood. He had fond memories of this place, his family, his father, meeting Ryouga, and saying goodbye to him. But breaking his train of thought was another memory tied to this place. 

"Oh Yes! Finally I can relax…" Came the voice to his side. He had almost forgotten she was there, Dinah, his Guardian Beast. She stretched her arms above her head, as if she hadn't had a chance to do this in years. But as Edgar thought, she worked just as hard as he did, if not harder. Her voice forced him back into reality, as he felt he should respond to her.

"Thank you for your great work, Dinah." He meant in sincerely, but he had to think that it sounded so corny.

Dinah gave him a wry smirk and her quick tongued reply. "I'm really exhausted… Why don't you give me something full of Mana instead of compliments?"

Edgar smiled his hopeless grin. "I still don't know what Mana is. But still, thanks." Is that all he could say? He had so much more he wanted to say to her, but he didn't want to ruin the moment here. They were so calm and relaxed, still something needed to be added. "I was only able to get here because you supported me."

Again her smirk, and the smart-ass reply. "Well, duh! You should be showering me with gifts."

A thought entered Edgar's head, what about the other Dinah, Angel Dinah. He figured he should mention this, since Devil and Angel Dinah seemed to be on better terms lately. And he could even recall one moment when they finished each other's sentences, with no curses or complaints from Devil Dinah when she returned. "Yeah, I should. I also have to say thank you to the angel Dinah."

"No, not really. She didn't do all that much…" Dinah spoke, rather eager to get off this topic. She felt the Angel's reaction in her subconscious, and if this continued, she'd probably break out again.

Edgar pressed the point though. "Yes, she did a lot. She helped me through some tough times!"

Dinah's expression changed to her look of aggravation and annoyance. She never did like sharing the credit. "Hey! Don't your eyes work? I did everything, not her!" Adding with her usual smirk "After we met Guren, she was so scared that she hasn't even shown up since then."

And then, almost as if on cue, there was a soft light that Edgar was waiting for. Dinah's bat wings replaced by feathery angel wings, her jagged edge tail, becoming softer and gentler, and her hair becoming smoother, instead of devil Dinah's jagged nature. The expression was the only thing that didn't change, as Dinah now looked annoyed herself.

"That's not true!" Her softer voice spoke out, trying to sound angry, though she failed miserably.

Edgar smiled softly, relieved that he was able to pull out angel Dinah so easily. "Haha! It's been a while! I thought I'd see you soon!"

Dinah's facial expression changed to one of pleading almost. "You might not have seen me, but I was cheering you on the whole time! I was always thinking of you, even when you couldn't see me."

Edgar looked at her deeply. "I know that you're both a devil and an angel. Together you two make a single person." Nice one! That was brilliant, why had he never thought of that one before. It was so smooth even he was a little surprised. It seemed to have the desired effect as Dinah's cheeks reddened.

"Master Edgar…" She seemed very taken aback by his words, and Edgar figured it was time to restore the conversation.

"Thank you for everything! We are going to get along, aren't we?"

Her cheeks stayed flushed, but the smile returned to her face. "Yes…Master Edgar…"

And then the familiar flashes again, as Devil Dinah managed to take control back. The devil stands before him, looking more then a little annoyed.

"Hey! You should be saying that to me!"

Confused Edgar protested. "I just did!"

Dinah's expression softened momentarily, as she remembered that he had said the words to her, but just her other self. Still, she wanted him to say it to her. "That was different."

Seeing her expression soften put Edgar back into a joking mood, he figured he'd give her a bit of a hard time. "No it wasn't…"

Now she was annoyed again. "Say it again! Now!"

"Fine!" Edgar made his face look as sincere as possible, it wasn't hard because he did mean it. "Thank you, Dinah. I'm happy that we can help each other from now on, too."

The devil's cheeks now turned the slightest bit red as they both chuckled softly. She opened her eyes wide looking straight at Edgar.

"Well, I suppose I don't really have a choice."

That was the knife, her staying with Edgar was all obligation. She didn't care about him at all. She got along with him, but that was mere happenstance. The angel probably felt differently, but that was like half a person loving you, it doesn't work well that way. What would he have to do to make the devil Dinah see anything as more then superior or inferior maybe an equal, or a friend? But it was as if she knew what he was thinking, because what she next said warmed his heart.

"But if I did have a choice, I'd probably choose to stay with you anyway."

That was it. That was all the devil was capable of. She couldn't say it outright, but the point was made clear. She was staying with Edgar because she wanted too. It wasn't because she had to because she was weak, because she wasn't weak anymore. It wasn't because she had no choice, because she didn't need to live in the village anymore. It was simply because she wanted to. She just needed a way to say that without breaking who she was. She would use that as her way of saying she wanted to be with him, that she had no choice. And as long as he understood that, then there would never be a problem.

* * *

The walk down the steps, back to the town, was fairly quiet. Master Blaire had commanded that there would be a celebration to honor Edgar, Dinah, Orin and all of the heroes who had saved their town. Though it was not his decision to make, nobody argued with him, not even the Elder. And the village was thrown into a marvelous celebration. 

The celebration was indeed amazing. Everyone was there, and all of Edgar's allies were treated as the heroes they all were. Tatiana, Orin, Gabriel and everyone, all were heroes on par with the great Edge Fencer. It was never mentioned that Gabriel was the Black Knight, because Edgar didn't think it was important for people to know. Despite this, Edgar could see that Gabriel felt very guilty about all the praise he received. Toumei, on the other hand, was drinking it up like a flower drinking water. Edgar noticed, amidst the festivities, that Dinah was not in sight. If the angel was out, then everything would be ok, but if the devil was out, he was worried that trouble might be happening. Over the din of the party, he heard a sound only the ears of a craft knight could hear. The look on Orin's face said that he heard it as well, despite all of the women that were crowding around him. Their eyes met and said the same thing.

_The sound of a forge_.

And there was only one place in the town with a forge, Master Blaire's house. Edgar dismissed this thought from his mind, so it was a forge? Master Blaire had not been able to forge for almost two weeks, of course his celebration would be returning to his dream. But still, something about this bothered him. He couldn't place it, but he wanted to check on it. And so he did.

Outside of his house, he heard very clearly the clanging of the hammer. Adding to this noise was a sound he had not been expecting to hear.

"So you heard it too Master?"

Edgar looked around confused. He knew he heard Dinah's voice, but where was she? After a moment of looking he heard her voice again. "Hey! Up here!" As his eyes drifted skyward, he saw her sitting of the roof, leaning over the side to look down at him. He asked the question he already knew the answer to.

"Why aren't you at the party, Dinah? Is something wrong?"

Dinah merely scoffed at him. "Why would I want to be around all of those bumpkins dancing around like buffoons? It's much more peaceful here. I've had enough of all the loud noises."

Edgar smirked in a way that she would. "So you're sitting on top of a house with an active forge inside?"

"Ah shuddup!" She snapped.

Edgar smiled again, and started to climb up the roof. As he climbed he felt a pain in his chest, one that he recognized immediately, but he ignored it and continued his climbing. In a moment he joined his Guardian Beast on the roof, with a perfect view of the town, lit up like it was morning.

"It's really a nice view from up here." Edgar remarked, trying to break the uncomfortable silence.

"Yes." Dinah replied. "I can focus on gathering Mana from here too."

Edgar decided, now that their major mission was over, he had time for this. "You keep saying that, what exactly is Mana?"

Dinah thought for a minute, searching for the right words. "Mana is… the force of nature and life…"

"You mean like the elements?" Edgar asked.

Dinah shook her head in annoyance. "No no. The elements themselves are made up of Mana, it's…. a universal energy, that exists in all creatures and things. Whenever a material item is changed, it loses some of its Mana. For example…" She pointed at a small tree. "That tree has more Mana then you're whole house, because it is in its natural state. When I cast magic, the Mana allows me to form the effect desired. Mana can be absorbed when there is an abundance, like the glacier. There was no real development there, most things were as they should be, so there was an abundance of Mana. However there was almost no Mana at the factory where GUNVALD was, because it was all modified and used up."

Edgar looked very confused. "I'm not sure I really follow you…I have Mana?"

Dinah looked annoyed again. "Gah, come on it's not that hard! Mana is like…the potential of metal."

"The potential of metal?" Edgar echoed, now even more confused.

Dinah sighed. "If you take a piece of the iron ore, it has great potential. You could make it into a sword, or a drill or maybe something other then a weapon, like a door, or a table. It has great potential. However, once you melt it and create something with it, it becomes very difficult to make it into anything else. In its natural form it is most useful. Mana is like that, naturally it is very useful. But while everything has Mana, they don't have the same amount once it has been used and modified."

Edgar nodded. He actually started to understand this now. "So…is that why you like to be where my house was? Since there is nothing there the Mana is more pure then it is anywhere else?"

Dinah replied with a half lie. "Yes, there is more Mana there then anywhere else in this town, that's why I go there to rest. But here isn't bad either, since your on the edge of the town. The forest down there has a fairly good amount of Mana, so I managed to scrape together enough to cast. Which reminds me…"

She smirked again, as she starred intently at the town. "Maybe we should go to a place where there is plentiful Mana. Like that glacier again, or maybe the ocean. That would be a nice reward for my hard work, you know."

Edgar smiled weakly, he just couldn't seem to keep his eyes open. "A vacation eh…that sounds nice…"

Dinah could hear the fatigue in his voice. "Master? Are you tired?" She turned and starred in disbelief with her mouth gaped open. "Edgar!" He heard her cry out, he could see the look of fear in her eyes. He wanted to say something, to explain, but he just felt so tired. His body felt so heavy, he'd just lie down and take a nap, and he'd feel better after that. The last thought that went through his mind as it all went black.

_Why does she only call me Edgar when we are in danger…_

"EDGAR!" The cry fell on deaf ears, as she grabbed the shoulders of her Master, staring at the growing stain of blood on his shirt.

Then silence…


	2. The Missing Piece

Some people had guesses about what happened to Edgar last chapter. Some were good, some were bad, and some were really far out there. Even more people wonder where I am going with this, and if I said I had some grand master plan, that'd be a steaming pile. I'm along for the ride as much as any of us are. But you obviously came back for more (Or are rummaging through the chapters looking for the good part.) so without further ado.

"I have no choice"

Chapter Two: The Missing Piece

* * *

It happened so quickly that Dinah could not even think. Edgar was slowly bleeding to death out of a chest wound, where he got it she had no idea. The silence in the air woke her from her stupor, as she immediately lifted his shirt to examine the wounded area. What she saw made her sick to her stomach and afraid for his life. 

Edgar's chest was ripped open, but not as if he was slashed or beaten. First of all the wound itself was too small, roughly the size of a large pebble. Second of all, the wound appeared to be old, since there was dried blood around it. But that was beside the point, the important part was that since Edgar had lost so much blood, her healing magic would have little to no effect on him. It didn't work miracles after all, it just reinforced natural strength. ---But as she stared in hopelessness, wondering if there was anything she could do, the silence broke with a familiar yell.

"Hey!" Came the shout of Blaire from the doorway. "What's going on out here?"

Relieved, and not bothering to hide her emotions, Dinah called out to Blaire, not willing to risk leaning over the edge while she was supporting Edgar.

"Master! Up here, it's Edgar! He's wounded badly!"

Panic ran across Blaire's face for an instant as he bound up the roof in two quick jumps. When he saw Edgar's chest, his face relaxed and he breathed a small sigh.

"It's all right Dinah, he'll be fine." He said as he pulled off the white bandana he always wore and began using it to wrap the wound. "He might not have been if he had been alone though, you might have saved his life."

Dinah's face lit up a little bit at this praise, but quickly returned to worry. " How do you know he will be ok Master?" She inquired.

Blaire picked up his foster child and hopped off the roof, landing as softly as he could. "Trust me Dinah, but we should get a doctor. Could you tell the Chief I'd like to speak with him. Don't let anyone else know what happened, even Orin and Tatiana, it might cause a panic." She glided down as he opened the door and added. "By the way, try to act your usual self. If people see you worried, they might suspect something."

Dinah scoffed. "Hah! Why would I be worried? He's been through far worse the a little cut! Now you needed the Chief right? I don't really have a choice I guess…" And with that she took to the skies.

* * *

In a little less then a minute she had managed to find the chief, talking the ear off of some poor man who was caught in his line of sight. "Hey old man!" She called out as she descended from the sky. The chief looked up, obviously annoyed by the title. 

"Hmph, kids these days. Why in my day we showed respect for our elders, and back then.."

Dinah interrupted him angrily. "Not now old timer, Master Blaire needs to speak with you, he said it was important." She said, trying to keep up her façade.

The chief scoffed. "If you want my attention, you'd better ask more politely then that."

Ugh, this was a bad situation. Dinah could feel the Angel's emotional state, and she was such a wreck over Edgar that the whole town would know if she came out. It was up to her, she just had to bite the bullet and do this one for her master.

He face looked pale and embarrassed, but she was determined to do this. "Excuse me…could you please come to see Master Blaire with me sir?" She was barely able to get the whole sentence out before she had to look away from embarrassment. The Chief and his captive both looked stunned.

"I'll be damned…I didn't think you had it in you." Then he laughed uproariously. "I guess you really are afraid of failing in your Master's service, Blaire is well known for being rough on his students. Why I remember when he was training Orin…"

A death glare from Dinah shortened the speech. "Ah yes, you said Blaire needed my counsel. Well, lead on child."

She forced herself to turn away from him as she grimaced and muttered the words under her breath.

"…Child?"

* * *

"By the stars! Why didn't you tell me it was this serious!" The Chief shouted in surprise when they reached the door, and saw the blood on the doorstep. "Blaire has been injured! Maybe the curse didn't actually remove itself! Ah why must we have these trials!" 

"Quiet!" Dinah shouted, finally unable to stand his rambling anymore. A new voice from inside kept her from shouting at the old man.

"Dinah's right, there is more to be done then just talking." Blaire spoke as he was coming down the stairs. "Edgar could use your help chief, it was the injury we were expecting."

The chief's worry melted away as he walked towards the stairs. "Ah was that all? I was seriously worried. Well, I'll go make sure he's ok. Would you like to come child?"

Dinah seemed a little shocked. "Um. Are you sure he'll be ok? It looked really bad."

Blaire smiled and placed his hands on her shoulders. "You're quite loyal to your Master, but there is no need to worry, we have been expecting this since you returned from Goura's Gate. Chief, I think it might be better for her to see Edgar _after_ you get him all patched up. We'll make sure to call you once we are done."

"R-Right." She responded, more then a little confused and concerned. But before she could move, she felt an overflow of emotion.

(Oh no, not now! Gya!)

The flash of brilliant light as the Angel Dinah came out from her subconscious was followed by a pair of watery eyes and a cry of protest.

"B-But! What happened to Master Edgar?! I didn't see him get injured! I-I…It's not right! He shouldn't be hurt so mu-"

Blaire pressed his finger to her lips. "Hush. It's ok. Edgar will be fine, we'll tell you all about it once we're done, but now we have some work to do on him, just to check. We'll make sure he's ok."

Dinah nodded wordlessly, and as Blaire and the Chief went upstairs she reverted to her normal self. What had happened?

* * *

A few hours later, everything was done. Blaire said he was going to return the chief to his home, and then come back and explain everything. Dinah couldn't wait for him to get back, and flew upstairs as soon as he left. In what must have been Edgar's old room, was her Master. His faced looked slightly pale and his chest was wrapped in clean bandages. He wasn't awake yet, so Dinah just sat there…waiting. Thoughts entered her mind, she didn't know why, but when she looked at the memento from his father, the Red Daemon Gem, she kept remembering things from their adventures. 

"The Mono-Shift is a portion of Goura's soul. But Edgar returned that part of Goura's soul to him, so he no longer has it. That can't be the reason…wait."

_"You have summonite inside you? Did you eat it?"_

"_Each Edge Fencer is born with a piece of Goura's soul inside of them. The summonite is placed in the body to keep the piece of the soul there."_

Was that it?

_Guren's gone…but Goura is still full of rage and is totally out of control! We're going to have to give him the part of Goura's spirit that Guren couldn't get…the piece inside me._

She had forgotten. Then he was still in his Mono Shift mode, but when he approached Goura, she couldn't see clearly because of the light, he doubled over for a second, and raised something in his hand that fell down into the pit. It glinted when he held it.

She had figured it out. That was why nobody was worried.

"The wound was caused….when he…"

"Pulled the summonite out of his body." A voice behind her finished. She wheeled around to see Master Blaire standing there, his chin cupped thoughtfully in his hand. "The idiot didn't want to worry us, so he didn't tell us. But he didn't cover the wound properly, so it reopened when he over-exherted himself. We expected it though, so we weren't too surprised when it happened. I wonder what he did to tear it open though?"

Dinah's mind knew, it had to be. "It was when he climbed the roof…."

Blaire though. "Yes your probably right, well I guess he will remember that as a lesson about hiding his injuries." He added with a smile. "Dinah you look tired, you should go to sleep now."

"But where will you sle..."

"Dinah!" He shouted with his glare. "Your master has commanded you to get some rest!"

Innate reaction taking over she stood up. "Master, yes Master!" And quickly took her leave of the room, heading downstairs. Blaire just sighed and sat in the chair exhausted.

"My boy you've found quite a partner if she can put up with you, honestly don't think you have to do everything yourself, we are here to help you." With that he left as well.

Dinah couldn't sleep. Without the sound of Edgar in the room, she just couldn't relax. They never slept in the same bed, but he was in the room, and that became quite comforting, knowing that he would protect her. She knew Orin and Tatiana would be out for quite some time, as the party was still going on, so she decided she would check on Edgar, to make sure he was ok. She silently flew up the stairs, listening for the sounds of Master Blaire. It was unneeded though, because she soon discovered he was not in the house. She sat next to Edgar, watching him. It had been awhile, she thought, since Edgar got to sleep in a bed. Even on the first day he always let her have it, maybe because she complained, maybe because he wanted to, she never knew. Edgar was so kind to her, surely sitting here and making sure he was ok would be the least she could do for him. Edgar grimaced and his eyes half opened slowly. He could make out her face, and she wasn't paying enough attention to wipe the look of concern from her face.

"D-Dinah." He said softly, and she jumped. He smirked. "Is that for me?" His voice was so soft, like he was about to pass out.

"Ah! No not at all! I wasn't worried, you're just a burden to me! Stop causing so much trouble!"

Edgar weakly smiled. "Yeah…I know. Sorry bout that. I'm so tired, good night…"

He barely finished the sentence before he passed out again, now a smile on his face.

"Hmph. What's with that stupid smile? It's not like I was actually worried about you or anything like that." And with that she stood up and left the room.

* * *

Yay, stuff explained! Don't worry, I do have a plot for this fic, I just wanted to get this part up, because it has fluff, and fluff is good. Anyway, I like how two-faced Dinah is in the game, and I try to convey it here as well, am I doing it right? Anyway, till next time! 


	3. The Forgotten Chain

Well, I've been a lazy bum quite long enough, time to get back to work. I just wanted to say, as most of you have probably noticed, this is not a full-blown action fic. There will be bits of violence and fighting and such, but mostly this is romantic. If you don't like this stuff, don't complain later on that it's too boring and fluffy and needs more blood guts and death. I'm not good at that, so I'll leave it to those who are.

Anyway, welcome back to my first Summon Night fanfiction.

"I have no choice"

Chapter Three

The Forgotten Chain

* * *

Several days had past since the incident with Edgar, and he had almost fully recovered. Dinah had regained most of her composure, and most people were willing to accept that their hero had just pushed himself too hard, and needed to rest. Orin and Tatiana knew better, but they kept their mouths shut about Edgar's injury, aside from yelling at him for not telling them. The rest of the family noticed one oddity though, for those few days Edgar was recovering, Dinah spent almost no time with him.

"Isn't she his Guardian Beast? She's supposed to protect him from danger! How can she do that if she is never here? Hmph!" She crossed her arms, annoyed. For his part, Orin was trying to weather the storm.

"Now come on, what could she possibly do? He has to heal naturally, and they've really only had time to get along during conflict, it might be too sudden to want her to immediately get used to a non-violent simple life. Maybe she just doesn't want anyone to think that she likes Edgar."

Tatiana looked at Orin, obviously criticizing him. "How could anyone _not_ notice? It's so obvious, but she doesn't even know him, and all she can do is fight!"

Orin smirked as he looked over his sister. "My my, if I didn't know any better I'd think you were getting jealous…"

Cheeks red like a beat in a second "I-I am not! I just don't think she's the right type for him! Edgar is like my brother, we have to watch out for each other!"

Acting like his father, he cupped his chin in his hand. "Really? You never seemed this concerned over me…"

Tatiana smirked slyly. "That's because you never show any interest in women, I don't have anything to grill you about. Maybe we should hook you up with one of the village girls...""

"N-Now hold on a minute! That's not what I meant!" Orin stammered.

"Oh? Maybe you already have your eyes on someone? I wonder who? Could it be Lynn, or maybe Nina? You're so funny to tease."

"Ok, Ok cut it out. Sheesh, your impossible." He sniffed the air for a second. "Hey, be careful I think dinner is burning."

Tatiana jumped up and ran over to the stove. "Oh no! I totally forgot! I hope it did-" She then noticed that the stove was not on, it was barely past noon. "Orin, what are you tal-" She said as she turned around and saw the empty kitchen. "Oooh…you!" She huffed and stomped her foot.

* * *

Dinah sat on the fence overlooking the cliff. Her Master's former house, she knew why he came here, but why did she find herself so calm and at ease when she was here? It was as if something she didn't quite understand anchored her here. This place just felt like home, even though it looked nothing like it. Dinah sighed and lay down on the grass, stretching out. She always loved looking at the sky, the clouds floating lazily by without a care. Life was so peaceful, something she was not used to. The wreckage of what must have been Edgar's old house gave this place a very sad look, but it was so peaceful and pleasant she didn't even notice. Only the sound of shoes clacking up the stone steps to this look out pierced her day dream, and she bent her head back to get a good look at who it was. A simple look of that dirty blonde hair betrayed the presence of her master. She preformed a quick flip, aided by a flap of her wings, and landed deftly on the tips of her feet. She shot him a glare that could have frozen flames.

"And what are you doing out of bed master? Tell me it's something important or I'll send you right back there myself." She said. She made no aggressive motion, but the tone of her voice was enough.

"Hey." Edgar said with a smile. "You're my Guardian Beast, you're supposed to protect me!"

Dinah's lips parted into a small smile. "And how am I supposed to protect you if you won'' let your injury heal? This whole ordeal was because you wouldn't take our help, so now I'm not giving you a choice." She walked up to him and grabbed his arm. "Come on, if Master Blaire finds you out here, we'll both get into trouble. And I don't fancy the idea of fighting him at full strength…"

"B-But! I just wanted to talk to my Dad!" Edgar complained as she half pulled, half dragged him down the steps.

"He'll be here when you get better Edgar, he's not going anywhere. Besides you think he wants you to hurt yourself?"

"Dinah…when did you act so nice all of sudden?"

Dinah scoffed and tried to let it roll off. "I guess the angel's personality is getting to me more then I thought."

"_Hey! Don't blame it on me! You should tell him how you feel!_"

("Not now damn it! There are more important things to do!")

"…_There are always more important things to do, aren't there?"_

* * *

Blaire had decided that Edgar was safe enough to return to his "old" room in the basement, so with a very unceremonious shove, Blaire reclaimed Edgar's original room. It really wasn't a problem though, because by the next day the wound had fully healed. It was already well past noon, but Edgar had done nothing all day, he hadn't even left the house. Dinah's curiosity got the better of her and she decided to ask him about it.

"Hey, Edgar…How have you been? Does your wound hurt?"

This level of concern from Dinah surprised Edgar. This was very unlike her, though she was becoming more gentle and kind by the end of their adventures. "Huh? I'm all right, you shouldn't worry. Why are you asking?"

Dinah needed an excuse, something to mask her concern about his injury, she thought of something as quickly as she could. "You don't have Goura's soul in your body, right? I'd expect that you might feel different now that it's gone."

Edgar thought for a minute "Hmm…" but then decided not to delve too deeply into what she said. "Nope, I feel just fine. I still feel Goura's power, though. Remember what he said? He'd be watching us…"

Dinah smirked at her master. "He's watching over us somewhere? That's kind of creepy…"

Edgar smiled brightly, trying to take the conversation back where it came from. "Thanks, Dinah. You've been worrying about me."

In a panic, with her cheeks quite red Dinah responded quickly. "Hey! I wasn't that worried…"

Edgar threw his pack on and headed towards the stairs with a smile. "Ok, let's go."

Dinah's face dulled for a moment. "What now? Are we going out?"

Edgar smiled and turned to her, the lighting was weird, and it made him look different. Heroic and handsome like the storybook adventurer. Maybe in a few years anyway, she thought biting back a laugh. "Of course! Just staying here won't do us any good, you know!"

Dinah smiled and caught up with him with a quick flap. "Okay! Uh…I mean…I guess I don't have a choice." And she followed him up the stairs.

As they ran through the town Edgar called back to Dinah, which was unnecessary since she was just a foot behind him.

"All right Dinah! Let's work hard and make more weapons today!"

Dinah shot her master a sarcastic smile. "Making weapons every day… I mean…Don't you ever get tired of that?"

Without missing a step Edgar gave his response. "Nope, I'll never get bored with it. It's because we're working together, Dinah!"

Dinah was quite glad she was behind him so he couldn't see her face flush, as she gave her usual response. "I see…Well I have no choice…" Then she added. "But what are you going to do from now on?"

Edgar responded like it was the easiest question in the world. "What am I going to do? Make more weapons of course!"

Diana's face soured, as she was a little annoyed. "That's not what I meant. Will you keep working to be a Master Craftknight?"

Edgar stopped for a moment, almost causing Dinah to crash into him. "Hmm…I haven't thought that far ahead." He turned to her with a smile. "But I think it'll be good as long as I'm a Craftknight, because I can stay with you Dinah."

Dinah didn't have a clever save or witty comeback for this one, how direct he was caught her by surprise, and he was looking right at her. "Huh!?" She quickly came up with something, but it didn't come out quite how she wanted. "That doesn't sound fun! I don't want to have to work in this hot and stuffy room forever!" She felt a nagging in her mind as she said this. Apparently someone else had something to say, and before she could get a word in edgewise, the very familiar angelic side to Dinah came out.

"That's just her opinion. I'd like to stay here and work with you, Master Edgar. So please…" Dinah regained control here, actually she was given control by her other self. Dinah didn't know whether to curse her or thank her, but right now. "Well, there's no choice… I'll stay here with you."

Edgar smiled and resumed running. "Thanks! I'll be counting on you from now on!"

Dinah started flying again to catch up with him. "Hey! Remember you're supposed to protect me!"

These days were so care free, Edgar thought that their adventures would never end, and now they were over. It was back to a mundane life, and he wondered how Dinah would react to that. But as soon as they entered the forest from the small cave leading out of Cliff Village, their adventures began anew.

Standing just outside the cave ending, was a man, or so Edgar thought. Covered head to toe in jagged armor, that glowed with an eerie red light. Edgar stopped, his sword by his side, axe on his back, and hammer at his waist. The man in question had no visible weapon, but that didn't mean he wasn't dangerous. Edgar's faced was composed but suspicious, but Dinah's was abject terror. Edgar spoke first.

"Who are you? What are you doing around here?"

Dinah looked like she was about to respond, but the man interrupted her with a glare and a word.

"Silence!" Dinah's mouth closed quickly, and the man spoke in a low, formal tone. "Good day young boy, my name is Halavard Greitzhelm, I have been looking for you."

Edgar was a bit surprised and grasped his sword. "You're a summoner?!"

The man sensed the tension and raised his hand. "Yes I am, but I mean you no harm. I believe you have something of mine, and I would like to retrieve it."

Edgar lowered his sword slowly, despite his appearance the man had not shown any hostilities, but still. Something was off about him, he couldn't tell what, but something wasn't right.

"I don't know what you are talking about? What have you lost?"

Halavard had lost interest in Edgar apparently, because he turned to Dinah. "Come Dinah, its time to go."

Edgar turned to Dinah, to see her walking towards Halavard as if his very presence disgusted her, but she raised not a hand to him.

"Dinah? What's going on?! Who is this guy?" Edgar called out, very confused as to what was happening.

"She won't answer you, I commanded her to silence. But let me tell you just what you want to know, as a thank you for keeping her safe. My name is Halavard Greitzhelm, I am the summoner who called her to this world. And now I thank you for the return of my summon creature."

Edgar gritted his teeth and grabbed his sword. "Dinah is my Guardian Beast, and my friend! I won't let you take her!"

"Oooh. A Craftknight eh? Well, you will never stand up to my power boy, you're out of your league. Just go home before I lose my temper."

"I've beaten plenty of summoners before, one more won't make a difference."

Halavard thought for a second. "That may be true, but I don't intend to fight you Craftknight. Dinah, get rid of him for me will you."

Dinah drew he hands across her chest, as she began forming the mana into a spell, her eyes spoke clearly what she longed to say.

_Edgar…I'm so sorry._

"Hail Shower!"

So shocked by the attack, Edgar was hit squarely into a tree, which splintered behind him. Her grunted as he opened his eyes, to see Halavard's back as he walked away.

"Don't even bother challenging me kid. I'll beat you down with the very thing you hope to save. She's mine now, accept it and move on with your life. It's not too late to train another after all."

As he and Dinah disappeared into the forest Edgar cried out, swinging his sword about and tearing the remains of the tree into splinters.

He wanted to save her, to rescue her, but how when he was going to have to fight her? He needed help, and he knew it. Without Dinah, he had nothing, and he couldn't do anything alone.

Reluctantly he walked back into the cave, returning alone to Cliff Village.


	4. Know Thy Enemy

Wow, it's been a bit since I wrote one of these eh? Sorry, sorry. I'd like to give you a good excuse, but I really don't have one, so uh yeah. Anyway, time to continue with the major cliffhanger last time. Prepare yourselves for the amazing part four!

I have no choice: Chapter Four

Know thy Enemy

* * *

The face burned its way into his mind. He couldn't forget the sneer of the knight and his evil glare. He wasn't afraid of him, he was pissed. Edgar knew what had to be done, he had to rescue Dinah, he had to fight Halavard.

Then why was he returning to town? It was a pointless question. He barely got halfway through the tunnel before Orin and Tatiana caught up with him. Obviously the spell had caught their attention.

"Edgar!" Orin shouted, seeing his clothes torn, and his body beaten. "What happened to you? Where is Dinah?!"

Tatiana's voice asked similar questions. Though she asked first if he was all right. Edgar's concern was not for them, he knew who he needed to find.

"I need to talk to Gabriel…"

* * *

Fortunately, the group had not left the town yet. They had all stayed after the party, though Gabriel was originally planning on leaving this day. In time, they all gathered in Edgar's house, along with Master Blaire. It was rather crowded to fit all of them, including Xeride, Toumei and Nina.

Edgar didn't want to tell the story, but he knew he had to. And thus he began.

"When we left the town, Dinah and I encountered a man in dark jagged armor. He identified himself as the summoned who called Dinah from the Spiritual Realm. His claim seems true, since he was able to control her. He kidnapped her and left, if I am to get her back, I'll need to fight her. And I'm not sure if I can alone. Also, I'd need help finding her." He said, glancing at Gabriel.

"Wait." Orin said. "I thought Dinah said her summoner died, didn't she?"

"Yes." Tatiana chimed in. "She did."

"But what does that mean?" Toumei wondered out loud. "Perhaps she lied?"

Edgar's fists clenched, his knuckles turning white.

"I doubt that." Came Master Blaire's voice. "The angel would have told us, it would never have allowed her to do something like that. We must assume that whomever this man is, he has great control over Dinah. And he must be a powerful summoner. Did he say his name Edgar?"

"Yes, he said his name was Halavard. Halavard…"

"Halavard Greitzhelm…" Finished a voice that wasn't Edgar's.

Everyone turned to Toumei, who was this voice. "His name was Halavard Greitzhelm correct?"

"H-How do you know that?" Edgar stammered. "Have you met him?"

Toumei sighed. "Not in a manner of speaking, no. However I do know that name, and the legend of his death. I'd imagine Nina knows it as well, since she is from the Capital. It's a well known legend."

They turned to Nina, who blinked several times confused. "Toumei? I've never heard of this guy before…"

"That is only because he was never named. Surly you have heard the tale of the last fight of the great paladin Magnus Li?"

"Wha!" Nina exclaimed as she fell from her chair, under the table. She quickly got up. "You mean to tell me this guy is the same evil villain Magnus died fighting two years ago?!"

"The name matches up, and so does one part of the legend that I always found interesting. You see. Halavard was well known for his evil deeds, yes. However there is something he was better known for, his summoning. He possessed a unique power to summon the most vile and evil devils, and subjugate them to his will without danger. A very difficult task for even the most powerful summoners. The record of his last battle with the paladin Magnus Li is incomplete, because of the sheer devastation that occurred there, but we do know this. Magnus managed to kill all of Halavard's devils, and dealt his a great wound. At that time Magnus summoned a celestial, while Halavard summoned an infernal. The two summons battled, while the two warriors did as well. According to legend, Magnus and his summon, realizing the danger they were putting the surrounding land in, sacrificed their lives to defeat their opponents. Much seemed to approve of this theory, since all traces of them and their creatures disappeared from history. And a celestial or an infernal are very obvious, they don't hide well. However, if he claims Dinah as his summon, and she didn't die in the massive fight…there is really only one explanation.

"Dinah…IS that infernal?!" Edgar half shouted in disbelief.

"It is the most likely outcome." Toumei said grimly. "But I know of a way we can find out. And I'll need your help for it. All of your help."

Toumei stood up and started point fingers around.

"Orin, fetch me a large urn, with a wide lid, and fill it with water, Tatiana, help him with that. Master Blaire, can you find me anything Dinah left behind? Something she kept with her. Nina, I'll need your help with the spell I am preparing. Gabriel and Xeride, while I am doing this I need you to search for Dinah. The more time we waste, the more dangerous this is going to become. We will catch up with you later.

"Right!" Came the universal chorus.

* * *

A short time later, everything was gathered. Master Blaire had managed to find the one thing he thought should work. The broken knife, the first weapon Edgar and Dinah made by themselves. It was really one of the only things left of her, and defiantly had an imprint of her spirit on it.

"Place it in the bowl." Toumei instructed. "Edgar, I need your mind. Dip your fingers into the bowl, and think of her. Picture her in your minds eye. And be spirited about it!

"S-Spirited?" Edgar asked unsure.

"Yes yes! But don't start shouting. Just focus on the thought. That should be enough." Edgar did so, picturing her in his mind as he closed his eyes, her smile was sarcastic as always.

What he wouldn't give to see it again. That's why he had to succeed. There was no failure, he HAD to succeed in this. Dinah had to be saved, and that was all there was.

"Spirits beyond!" He heard, as if from a mile away. "I call upon you to show us the vision we desire! My name is Toumei and I invoke your power! By the strength of this medium, show us the birth of the person we seek. Let this water be a reflection of the past, Hya!" With the final shout, the water began to shine, and hum softly. "Open your eyes Edgar, we must all watch this."

Edgar did as he was instructed, and saw the scene as if he was standing right in front of it.

* * *

The warrior of light, standing broken and bloody, before the evil knight, just as badly damaged as his opponent. Though they were not the main concern of Edgar's attention. He saw the creatures in the foreground. Two creatures fighting back and forth, viciously. He identified them, and was shocked at what he saw.

One had the appearance of a voluptuous young women. Her black leather clothing cutting off in all the right places, though her demonic smile betrayed her true intentions. A creature of utter evil. Her claws were rending the ground apart as she missed her nimble opponent. Her opponent wasn't quite what Edgar expected though, instead of a mighty warrior, it was a small female child, at least it appeared to be. The small child darted around the demon, launching beams of pure light from its fingertips, some of which missed, and some of which hit. The fight was fairly even, as Edgar saw, and neither looked like they were ready to give up. Until a voice pierced the fighting. A strong heroic voice.

"It is too dangerous now! We have to do it my ally!"

The small angelic girl spoke happily. "I will not kill! But I will end the fight."

As light began gathering around the paladin and his angelic ally, both the knight and his demon seemed frightened.

"That much power will destroy you! Fool!"

"You can't do that to me! I won't allow you!"

The flash of brilliant light engulfed Edgar's vision, and he was distracted by a cracking sound. Suddenly the world seemed to fly away, falling down away from him, until it shattered into pieces like shards of glass.

* * *

Looking up Edgar saw the shattered bowl. By the look of the fragments, it had exploded. Toumei's face was grim, and he said nothing.

"W-What happened?" Edgar shouted annoyed. "We didn't see the end of the fight! How did it end?!"

Toumei responded calmly. "It did end, that was Dinah's birth."

"But…"

"Let me explain." Toumei said, raising a hand to stifle Edgar. "First you should know the people involved. You recognized Halavard I will assume. And now you know what Magnus Li looked like, but the other creatures are the important parts. In a way you could say you know both of them. The demon, was called a succubus. It is a creature that feeds on the sensual desires of men, it is an embodiment of the evil, manipulating powers of desire. The celestial was a being known as a Cherubim. A pure embodiment of love and compassion, it is said they cannot kill. From this vision I am inclined to believe that. The celestial did not wish to kill the demon, as their key belief is that no evil soul is beyond redemption. So instead, it used a kind of power that almost always ends in failure. Soul Merging…"

"Soul…Merging?" Orin echoed.

"Yes. You see, Dinah is…the byproduct of the soul merge. She was born on that day, a new entity with the personality of both an angel, and a devil. Normally this kind of a combination would kill her, but for some reason it did work, and the two sides naturally began to balance each other. The angel side is compassionate and loving, which slowly pulls the devil away from evil acts, but the devil side slowly pulls the angel side away from non violence, so they reach a kind of middle ground. In truth, it was probably an almost perfect balance, until one factor entered the fray."

"And what was that?" Tatiana asked.

"It's simple. It was Edgar."

"Me? But what did I do?"

Nina smiled. "Isn't it obvious? You showed her kindness, compassion and all the things the angel was promoting. She lost more of her devil side, as she slowly became more like the angel. But…"

"That was the weakness Halavard could exploit." Toumei continued. "With the devil being suppressed so much, it was quite anxious to escape. When Halavard contacted it, by using the Summoners Binding to call symmetry with it, the devil side completely overpowered the angelic side, keeping her bound to Halavard. When in truth, Dinah never was bound to Halavard. If this is true…"

"Then we should be able to free her by waking up the angel part." Blaire finished.

"I'm afraid it's not that easy." Toumei continued. "If we were to fool around too much, the soul merge might become unstable. I really don't know. This has never come up before, so there is no way to know. Its uncharted territory. If we risk this and fail…she could die."

Edgar stood up. "Then we have no choice. We must defeat Halavard."

Orin smirked for once. "We? You mean you are letting us help you?"

Edgar smiled at his brother. "Orin, Toumei, Nina, Tatiana, I couldn't do it without you guys."

"Right! We can do it Edgar!" Tatiana cheered.

"Yes! There is nothing he can throw at us that we can't stop!" Agreed Nina.

However a flash of light brought the optimism to a close. The mechanoid that followed it was recognized by all. Xeride looked heavily damaged.

"Xeride! Are you ok? Where is Gabriel?!" Edgar shouted worried.

Xeride responded. "G-Gabirel is..f-fighting him. You must come now!"

Orin, Tatiana, and Nina gathered around. As Edgar ran forward he pushed Tatiana away from Xeride.

"Sorry! But it's too dangerous!"

Before she could complain there was a flash of light and they warped away.


	5. The End of the Beginning

Happy New Year all! I had planned to get this up this weekend, so here it is. I apologize if these updates are too spread out for you, but I currently have a full time job. So time isn't something I have a lot of. Anyway, less chat, now I am starting to get to the point where I know where I want to go, and have an idea of how to get there. So here is chapter FIVE.

"I have no choice: Chapter Five."

"End of the Beginning."

* * *

Gabriel was having a bad day. Finding Halavard hadn't been the tough part. Following Dinah's scent, which he was quite familiar with, was easy. But fighting this beast, it was a kind of power he hadn't even felt from Ryouga. But still, Gabriel was no slouch, he wasn't going to just lie down and die when his friends needed him. He rose from one knee glaring at his opponent, who merely smirked.

"I can guess, worthless mutt, why you have come after me. But let me confirm my suspicion. Servant, do you know who this is."

The pained response came. "Yes, Master."

"Tell me who he is, and what he can do."

"His name is Gabriel, he specializes in wind aligned sword attacks. He is quite skilled with a blade. His true skill involves striking when the enemy is not paying attention to him." These words seemed to force their way out of Dinah's mouth.

"Excellent. Now then Gabriel, I know all of your secrets, you obviously know that boy that stole Dinah from me, so why don't we make a deal. I won't kill you, if you keep him from following me. After all, without your nose he has no chance to find me."

Gabriel just chuckled. "Your too late. I already sent Xeride back to get Edgar and his friends! They'll be here any second."

"Oh really? And how is that?" Halavard asked to Dinah.

"Xeride is a mechanoid. He can teleport people and summon creatures great distances."

"Really now? That is an interesting power. Well then, it would be rude to not be here when they show up. But I'd like to deal with this stray first." He proclaimed as he raised his jagged blade high. "Die mongrel."

In a flash Gabriel raised his sword over his head, focusing his energy into it. "I can do this!" He shouted to himself, and swung the sword down. A drill of air flew from the blade, crashing into Halavard. It knocked the mighty warrior back a few feet, obviously more of an annoyance then a real threat.

"I see that you are quite powerful. Even against a strong opponent, that would have been quite deadly. Unfortunately, you are in a bit over you head here. Now…"

Before he could finish his proclamation, a white flash of light filled the clearing. As soon as it came, it vanished, leaving behind Edgar, Orin and Nina. Edgar already had his mighty Axe on his shoulder, Orin with his trusty drill, and Nina's staff planted in the ground.

"Heh heh heh…Wah ha ha ha ha ha! Now you bring your friends to fight me?! You are all merely children, and you should learn your place!" He stopped for a moment considering something. "However…these situation always seem to end with people being underestimated…so. Dinah! What can you tell me about these two?" He gestured to Orin and Nina.

"He is Orin, a Craftknight. He is weaker then Edgar, possesses a specialty with machines, and cooking. She is Nina, I know nothing about her besides her name, and she is a summoner of minor talent."

"I see…a Craftknight and a Summoner. Well I don't think this will be any more of a threat then I originally anticipated. Dinah, would you like to take care of them?"

"No, sir."

Halavard seemed annoyed. "Slave you are mine now, you'd best learn to enjoy it. Fine, I'll take care of these wretches." He brandished his long black blade, and grinned. "Who wants to be the first to taste my blade?"

"You think I'm weaker then that klutz?! I'll show you!" Orin shouted, charging as his drill sprang to life. "Hiya!" He smashed it directly into Halavard's sword, and the sparks flew. The drill seemed unable to damage the mysterious sword, and seemed to bounce off after a second. This moment, was all Edgar needed to close distance with his Axe. He ran up to Halavard and let out a shout as he swung the axe with all his might.

"This axe is designed for just one hit, and this is it Halavard!"

The large, cumbersome axe managed to strike Halavard's armor, and the axe shattered to pieces upon contact. The force of the blow sent Halavard flying back into the dirt, while Edgar was busy recovering from the recoil. Halavard stood up from the dirt, his armor shattered in the chest area, and a large cut where the axe had struck.

"Grrr…That's quite a strategy boy…develop a weapon just for one hit, it appears I underestimated you. Heal!"

On command, a familiar blue aura surrounded him, and his injuries closed almost instantly. Edgar scoffed, he'd forgotten about Dinah's healing ability. It was second to none, since water was her natural affinity.

"Hmm." Halavard muttered, scraping the dirt off his armor. "Dinah, he seems troublesome, is there anything else I should know about him or his weapons?"

"He carries a weapon that can ward off evil, made of a glacial rock found very far from here…"

"A what?!" Halavard's eyes grew wide. "Magnus's sword was made from a glacial rock…is it possible? Heh heh… How beautifully ironic. That sword once bested me, but not again! You are not Magnus child, and you have no servant to help you! You can't beat me! But still… Dinah, is there anything else special about this child?"

"…No, master."

Edgar's face showed shock. She defied him, she _lied_ to him outright. Halavard didn't know it, but Dinah had just withheld information from him. This information was crucial. The angelic side of her was helping her to fight him, and they had just scored a major victory.

_As long as he doesn't know about my powers, I still have a chance. But I have to make it count…_

"Well boy? That's all you have? You can't think of anything else? I was going to simply leave this place with my property, but now, you've annoyed me. I will kill all of your friends, burn your village to the ground, and destroy everything within miles of where we stand. And then, after I have caused you the final agony, I will allow you death by the hand of your own ally." He chuckled. "Several years of forced retirement have made my appetite for destruction insatiable. But this will be a good start. I suppose my first target should be…" He eyed the battle field and came across Nina, standing there frozen in place as she had been since the fight started. "Nina". His feet left the ground as he dashed towards her. Edgar ran to get into the way, but Halavard was surprisingly fast, despite his mass of armor. He wasn't going to make it, Nina was going to be the first casualty of Halavard's revival. In an instant Nina Nina was gone. Halavard's sword struck the ground beneath her feet with such force that it knocked Edgar off his feet. As he stood up he was relieved to see no blood on Halavard's sword.

"What?! Where is she?!" He looked left and right, spotting her and he savior off to the side. Gabriel stood there holding Nina in his arms, his feet glowing faintly green.

"Ah yes, Dinah did mention that you had affinity for air. That would make you unnaturally agile wouldn't it? No matter, there are always more sacrifices…Hiya!" He turned and, with a slash of his sword, let loose a black shock wave towards Orin. Again, the attack was denied, this time a white globe of light covered Orin, and the attack washed over it. Edgar didn't even have to look to know who had done that.

"Toumei, again you are a lifesaver!" The sound of a large, heavy weapon hitting the ground told him Blaire was there as well. He didn't even care how they got there, that could wait. The important thing was that they were here.

"None of us may be as strong as Magnus! But if the three of us fight as one, we can beat him!" Toumei declared. "Now charge! Before he can recover!"

With Blaire and Edgar bearing down his throat, Halavard was hard pressed to spare a moment to target the non-combatants. Blaire's skill with his axe was marvelous, and he had to focus most of his attention on him. But Edgar's weapon was more dangerous. One hit from that could sap almost all his strength, as Magnus's sword did to him once. And the blasted priest was keeping them protected from his dark magic, while attacking him with his holy magics the best he could. It was a maddening experience, but Halavard knew they could not keep this up forever. As long as he had Dinah healing his wounds and launching small attacks to keep them dodging, he would win. He knew this, and so did the others.

Tatiana, for her point, ran over to her brother. "Orin! Are you ok? Are you hurt?!"

"I'm fine Tatiana…wait. Why are you HERE?! This is a war zone, you've got to get out of here!"

"I'm going to help Edgar as much as I can! I'm got to do something!"

Orin snapped, this was insane. "Tatiana! Listen to me! You can't fight, you can't heal, you can't even coo-" He stopped short, remembering something. It was just crazy enough to work. "Tatiana…I need your help."

She blinked a few times confused. "Are you feeling alright Orin?"

"Do you have any of your sweets?"

Again she blinked. "Orin, I don't think now is a good time for candy…"

"Trust me, I have a plan. But I need them."

"I have some right here, but I don't know what you need them for…" She pulled out a handful of sweets. Orin grabbed them and got to his feet, throwing his drill down. "Tatiana, stay here, I'll be right back."

"Hey wait! I thought you said you needed my help!"

Orin ran across the battlefield. Neither Halavard nor the trio of attackers paid him any mind, they could not spare the attention from their battle. Orin had his plan, and he knew it would work, after all, it worked against him. As he approached Dinah, he was careful to stay out of her vision, when he noticed her eyes were closed. She was focusing on a spell, from his memory, it was a curing spell. This was his one chance, that incantation was short so she would have her eyes open very soon. Throwing caution to the wind, he charged her, and jumped so he would be on level with her. Bawling his fist he rammed his right fist into her gut. The strike was so hard it knocked the air from her lungs, and she toppled from the air, with Orin atop her. He quickly rammed his left hand, filled with the sweets over her mouth. Her body's natural response to the shot to the gut, and the impact with the floor, was to inhale. At which point she almost choked on the sweets, but the effect was seen almost instantly as her eyes opened wide and she passed out. Halavard noticed immediately when his call for a curing spell went unanswered. He turned his head and saw Orin atop Dinah, who was unconscious on the ground.

"YOU! What have you done to my slave?!" He bellowed, raising his sword in fury. But as he took his eyes off the fight, Blaire and Edgar raised their weapons and clove into his left side. Halavard instinctively jumped back, but immediately felt the power of the sword draining his strength. "Damn that sword…gah. I'll give you this battle boy, you bested me here. But I will return to claim what is mine, and I will make you suffer for this." With a growl he slammed his sword into the ground, kicking up a huge cloud of dust. By the time it had settled he was nowhere to be seen. Edgar was drained. He'd been lucky Toumei was there to be support, and Master Blaire to help with Halavard. But right now…

"Dinah!" Edgar shouted, running over to her and Orin. "Is she ok? What happened? I don't see any injuries…"

"EDGAR!" Orin shouted. A smile returning to his face. "She's fine. I gave her a taste of Tatiana's cooking."

"You mean…Her sweets?"

"Yup." Orin added with a grin. "Tatiana's sweets are like getting beaten up…"

"In your mouth." Edgar finished with a chuckle. "I guess you know that from personal experience."

"Boy do I ever." Orin remarked, rubbing his hand through his hair. "Anyway, with the force of the hit, and the fall, she'll prolly be out for a little bit. We should get back to town." Orin looked up at his father and Toumei. "Thanks for showing up dad, he was a lot harder then we imagined. But why didn't you come with us from the start."

Blaire responded. "Because I didn't have my Axe ready yet! You were all so gung ho to leave it's a miracle none of you forgot anything. Luckily Toumei could pick up Halavard's evil energy. Save your thanks for him."

"While I do enjoy praise." Toumei said with a grin. "I do believe this was more of a team effort." His grin quickly turned to a frown. "However. This isn't over yet. Halavard will return, and when he does, he will not be so easy to defeat. I imagine he will come with full force right from the get go, and in our current state, none of us stand a chance against him."

Edgar stood up, a solemn expression on his face. "He's hunting me. I can't go back to Cliff Village until he is dead…"

Tatiana, Nina and Gabriel turned to Edgar. Gabriel spoke first. "You want us to split up? We're all on his black list! If he finds alone, he'll kill us one by one." Tatiana chimed in. "Besides, you can't hope to fight him alone, your no more of a match for him then we are!" Nina would not be denied her thoughts either. "I'm sure that there is a decent plan we can come up with, come on Edgar, don't be so hasty."

The wise voice of Master Blaire spoke, and all were silent. "I think it's the right choice. Edgar has something none of us do, the power of the Edge Fencer. And Halavard doesn't know about that yet. If he attacks Edgar, there is a good chance that Edgar can catch him by surprise. And besides, with that sword of his, Halavard will be much easier then he would be for me. I mean, I'm a better fighter then Edgar, but my weapon isn't anywhere near as dangerous as his. Plus I was never that good with swords. I agree with your choice Edgar, you do what you think is best."

"That's good, because I'm taking her with me." Edgar responded, listing Dinah into his arms.

A general chorus of "What?!" filled the air.

"Edgar, you do know she could turn on you at any second." Orin said.

"Yes."

"And you know that Halavard has control over her." Tatiana spoke.

"Yes."

"And you know that he will come after her directly, and turn her against you. You'll have to fight her!" Gabriel protested.

"I know. I also know that she resisted him. She never told him that I was an Edge Fencer, and she should have. She can fight him, and I trust her. I am not abandoning her so he can kidnap her again. If he gets his hands on her again, then I must be dead, because as long as I am alive, I won't allow it."

Silence. Then Toumei, of all people, spoke.

"Well said Edgar. I agree with your course, but I have my own plans for resolving this. In time, I may seek you out with a solution. Until that time, please try to stay alive."

"I will. Well, I guess I'll see you guys later. And stay safe."

With those final words he set off deep into the forest, to confront the demon that haunted her past.

* * *

"Ed-gar." She murmured in her sleep.

Edgar had found a good clearing to set up camp in. He wasn't sure how long he would be looking for Halavard, but he was willing to hunt him. He needed to, he couldn't just sit around doing nothing. Movement next to him told Edgar that his next challenge was just waking up. In his foresight, he had grabbed an extra handful of sweets from Tatiana, as a kind of pacifier. He hoped he wouldn't have to use them, but he had to be careful. She sat up wearily, blinking a few times as she took in her surroundings. Suddenly her eyes shot open as she remembered everything. She saw Edgar sitting there next to a fire, and he glanced over at her.

"I'm glad you're awake."

"Y-you…brought me here? B-but I…"

"You did nothing. Halavard will pay. He chains you to your past, I'll cut that chain. I promise."

"I can't fight him Edgar."

"Then why didn't you tell him I was an Edge Fencer? You did fight him, you have the power to push him away. I need your help, even with my Edge Fencer power I can't fight him alone. I need my Guardian Beast. I need you Dinah."

Her eyes filled with tears. The events of the past day had taken their toll on her, and her well-fortified emotional walls came crashing down as she burst into tears. Seeing such a reaction from the devil side of her surprised Edgar, but he took it all in stride as he held her in his arms. He wasn't going to let anything happen to her, he wouldn't lose. He couldn't.

"Stay with me Dinah. I couldn't go on without you."


	6. Anything for Love

Whoa, been quite a hiatus that I took, but I suppose if I haven't chased all my fans away, I can do some more work on this.

"I have no choice."

Chapter 6: Anything for Love

* * *

It had felt like such a long time since Edgar had left with Dinah, in truth, it had barely been a week. Life had been a little interesting on the first few days, but Dinah seemed to stay quite, and kept herself as far away from Edgar as possible. She obviously did not trust herself, but Edgar didn't care. The further she pushed him away, the more he pressed closer to her. He had to remind her often, she wasn't alone, and they had to protect each other. Oddly though, he had not seen the angel side of her come out at all, as if she was frightened of something. Even some of the few times they had come close to fighting, she had stayed as herself, which seemed to surprise her as much as it surprised Edgar.

It was a bright spring day when they found the small inn, probably just a stop for travelers. It wasn't much, but it would beat sleeping in the woods again. Edgar smiled widely.

"Ah finally, it will be nice to have a bed tonight, eh Dinah?"

"…yeah…" She responded, her voice hollow.

Feeling that he should abandon this conversation, Edgar walked into the small inn. The man behind the counter looked at him, then at Dinah.

"A Summoner eh? A little young ain't ya?"

Edgar smirked. "I'm not a summoner, I'm a Craft Knight, and my age isn't important is it? Do you have some rooms?"

The man scratched his chin. "I only got one room, third floor, first door on tha' left."

Edgar handed the man a batch of coin, clearly more then the room cost, and walked upstairs without a second thought or another word. The room was small, but it would suffice, a bedside table, a table, two chairs and a bed. He moved into the room before he noticed the obvious problem, only one bed, and no other rooms. Not wasting time he gestured to the bed.

"You better get some rest, it's been a tough week for you."

Immediately she snapped at him, annoyed.

"Absolutely not! You need it more then I do!"

"But I wouldn't feel right about it, you need the rest you can get."

"And so do you! What about your wound, you need to be at your best, what will I do if you are weak?!"

There was an awkward silence as she said that, and immediately she wished she hadn't.

"…Fine" Edgar said, not planning to continue the conversation, and he pulled the blanket off the bed and handed it to her. "Take this, you'll catch a cold…"

"…Thanks."

* * *

In less then an hour Dinah was asleep. He could hear her steady breathing, and Edgar then got up from the bed, comfortable as it was. He crept over to where she lay, the blanket wrapped about her, and sat by her side. Looking at her sleeping face he felt the feelings he had been dwelling on for so long. It was just impossible for him to tell her now, he needed to put Halavard to rest first. But just then, his body felt cold, as if all the life was being sucked out of it. Considering that he still felt his heart beating so quickly being this close to the sleeping Dinah, he became very concerned as his eyes darted around the room. Without understanding why he grabbed Dinah into her arms, causing her to yelp in surprise as she awoke, and jumped to the other side of the room. The side of the room her was on exploded into splinters of wood, as Edgar rolled in the air, landing on his back, Dinah atop him. A roaring laughter from the hallway made Edgar's blood boil.

"My my Craft Knight, are you trying to get fresh with my pet? Tsk tsk, I should have to teach you a lesson about respecting other peoples property."

Edgar stood up to face the man. "She isn't your property Halavard! She is her own person, and she gets to make her own choices!"

Halavard just laughed. "I think you will find that you are quite wrong with that boy. Dinah, come here."

She stood up, her feet began to move, but then suddenly stopped. And she stood there fighting with herself. With the flash of bright light, she assumed her angelic form, and Halavard snarled.

"I won't be Master Edgar's enemy every again!" Her light voice spoke, with great conviction.

"I see, I see, you are defective merchandise aren't you? You are not my pet, you are an abomination, whose presence is accepted by neither angel's or devils. You really do have no place, in any world, or with anyone." And he began laughing uproariously. "Well then, I don't even need to take her, I'll just summon another one, that actually works. But before that…I should eliminate these defects." He snapped his finger. "And I know just how to." He locked gazes with Dinah and spoke in a monotone voice.

"Child of Sapureth, in the name of Greitzhelm I sever the chain of service! I banish you to your home plane!"

Immediately Dinah fell over screaming in pain, a sound that tore at Edgar's heart.

"What did you do to her!" Edgar roared, charging at Halavard, who stepped aside, obviously enjoying the pain and anger he has caused.

"I banished her Devil side back to her home plane, but since the souls were bound together, her soul is slowly being ripped apart, and without two bodies to return to, that will completely destroy her. Heh, you should never have challenged me. Now watch her slowly fade from this world."

Edgar stared helplessly, he didn't know what he could do, he didn't understand summoning, but he did know one thing. They very delicate balance her soul was in was being ripped apart, and she was slowly dying.

"M-Master.." She struggled to say. "Please, stay alive. Take…my last.." And she pointed her pale finger at his chest. A ray of blue energy let towards Edgar, and impacted him memento. This small influx of energy caused the reaction, awakened the power inside. Edgar felt it, the Mono Shift.

"You can…do it Ed…gar."

The room exploded in a ball of red light, as Edgar and Halavard both flew out of the open wall. Edgar drew his sword as they plummeted the three stories.

"This ends here you fiend! I will avenge her!" Edgar cried, his voice filled with rage.

Halavard merely smiled. "She is gone, nothing can stop that, wallow in despair."

And the two warriors fell to the ground, where a huge cloud of dust flew up. As Edgar stand there, his sword buried half-way to the hilt in Halavard's chest, he heard something, though he could not hear it clearly.

"Child of…..in the na….I summon…to serve the one who owns this summonite."

Another bright flash of light as Edgar jumped back up to the room in one bound, still in his Mon Shift form. As he touched down the power faded away, and he saw two figures he hadn't' expected to see leaning over where Dinah lay.

Toumei and Nina.

Toumei spoke first, seeing Edgar's tear stained eyes.

"She should be ok Edgar, we got here just in time."

Edgar was relieved to say the least, but also confused.

"W-What did you do?"

Nina spoke first, still looking worried.

"Well, Toumei figured out that Halavard would try to banish her like this, so he found something that we could use to stop it." She held up a small gem, blood red. "It helped that it had both your and her energy all over it."

"Yes" Toumei interrupted. "And it was quite hard to find, do you know how deep that pit in Goura's Labyrinth is? In any event, Nina used this gem to form a definite connection, and we summoned back Dinah before she could be completely lost. But…"

"But?" Edgar asked, still worried as he leaned over her, cradling her head in his arm. "What went wrong? Is she ok?!"

Toumei took a deep breath. "I don't know, I told you this was uncharted territory! Her body has stabilized, so she is alive, but her spirit is still very odd. As if it is half there and half not there."

"If I had to guess." Nina said. "I'd think part of her soul was still stuck on Sapureth."

"So what does that mean?" Edgar asked, growing more anxious by the second.

"If Nina is right, which does seem like the most likely answer. Someone would have to go to the realm of Angel's and Devil's, Sapureth, and recover the portion of her soul."

"Is that even possible? I mean, for humans to travel to other worlds?" Edgar asked incredulously.

"Why certainly!" Toumei said. "It's just dangerous. And going to such a war filled plane will defiantly be difficult. Having said that you are obviously going to go, so I will tell you how. It'll actually be easier for you, because this gem." He held it up again. "Is so closely linked to you two that it should seek out what remains of her spirit in the other world. But I do not know why some of the spirit got stuck, that is something you will have to find out Edgar. In any event, to use the gem like that, you'd need a summoner to chant a basic summoning spell on the gem. Since the other portion of her soul cannot move, the gem will move towards her. Since your energy is all over it, if you are holding it, it should take you with it."

"Once I've found her, how do I get back?"

Silence filled the room. "I don't know." Toumei responded honestly. "Once you free her soul, it will come here to her body naturally, but I can't say how, or even if you could, return to this plane."

Edgar thought for only a second. "Toumei, can you recharge the Red Deamon Gem? This will probably be very difficult."

Toumei grinned. "Very well, Nina, let's get ready to send him off."


	7. Master and Servant

Hello all, I know it's been a while. Life caught up to me with a sock full of pennies and beat me into submission. I have a little announcement to make here. This is not the last chapter. It is, however, the second to last chapter of this story. That's right, all good stories must end, and this story is coming to its conclusion, which I hope to have done by its one-year anniversary. Well then, time to get it started.

I have no choice: Chapter Seven

"Master and Servant."

* * *

It had taken a bit of time for Toumei to prepare for this. Edgar thought, with a tug at his heart, of how difficult this was going to be. How unlikely that he could even pull this off? And even if he did, how would he get back? But he knew one thing, and that was enough. Part of her soul was imprisoned, or something like that. It couldn't move, and he couldn't think it was by choice. He had to know, so he had to go. In the time it had been, he had managed to repair his axe, but Toumei had advised against removing the blade from Halavard's'' chest, where it was currently resting. He said something about it neutralizing evil spirits, and damaging the land if removed, in truth Edgar was only half listening. Nina had tried her best to comfort him, but even she seemed to give up after a few moments of Edgar's company. It wasn't as though he was sad and breaking down, he was determined. He would travel to Sapureth, and he would free her soul. And eventually, he would find a way back to her. That was just what he had to do. Looking over he unconscious form, he brushed her cheek with his hand.

"You are my Guardian Beast after all…"

Then he noticed something, something weird. She was in angel form now, she was almost never in her angel form, it was the submissive side of her personality. But there had to be a reason, what was it? Then it hit him like a brick, if part of her soul was trapped in the other world, it would have to have been her Devil half. Which meant that he would have to find the devil portion of her soul, he couldn't imagine it being easy. It was only a few minutes more before steps in the hallway told him someone was coming.

"Edgar." He heard Nina's voice. "We're ready to start."

He stood up and walked past Nina, down the stairs and outside of the small inn. Toumei had set up some kind of weird circle, he had called it a "Summoning Circle." Edgar didn't understand summoning, but if this was how it had to be done, he didn't care. Clasping the Summonite Gem in his hand, he walked over to Toumei, who directed him into the circle.

"There. Now, I'm not too sure how enjoyable the trip will be, but it should work. I can't tell you how close it will get you to her, but you should be in the general vicinity."

"Right." Edgar said nodding.

"Well then, I believe this is your show Nina, you are the talented Summoner here."

Nina stepped forward, it was quite clear that she was uncertain of her own ability, but she raised her staff with determination and strength.

"I invoke the powers of the five realms! In the name of Nina draw your powers together to return your servant to you!"

Edgar felt something pulling in his hand, the gem trying to get free. He clenched his fist around it as hard as he could.

_I'm not going to let go, not ever._

And then he felt it. The gem was pulling him. He couldn't really see anymore, blurry screens as if he had just woken up, but the images were flying by him. He felt that he was moving quickly, though he had no way to gauge it. Finally with a crash he hit something, hard. He was lying on the ground, or at least something that felt like ground. His head was spinning and his hand twitched in pain. Pulling his head up he saw that his palm was cut where the gem had pressed against it, but then he looked around at his surroundings and almost could not believe it. He was currently lying in a field of grass that seemed to extend on forever. He began to get to his feet, and realized that it really did seem to extend on for miles, he couldn't even see where it ended. It was then that he felt something collide with him, as he toppled to the ground. He heard a giggle from above as he strained to see what had just crashed into him, once again he was speechless. There was a full angel in front of him. Young, yes, but still a full angel. She was looking at him quite curiously.

"Hello!" She said waving franticly. "You are from Lyndbaum right? Wow we don't see many humans here. Why are you here? Did you come here on purpose? What is your home like? Do they have fields of flowers there too?"

Edgar held up his hands. "W-Wait wait! Please." Taking the moment of silence he took a breath and stood up, dusting himself off. "Yes I am from Lyndbaum, I did come here on purpose, and I am looking for a friend."

The little angel smiled, flipping over in the air. "That's good! We have plenty of friends here! I'm sure you'll find the one you want!"

"Umm…well…" Edgar began. How would you ask an angel for directions to meet a devil, it didn't seem like the easiest thing to do. A light bulb went on in his head, and he addressed the young girl once again. "Actually, the friend I am looking for was captured by the devils I think, I came to save her. Can you tell me which way that is?"

The angel looked quite troubled, as Edgar expected. "You can't go there, nobody can."

Edgar was expecting an answer along these lines, but pressed on. "But I have to go there, she is probably in big trouble, and I'd need to help her!"

The angel looked at him sympathetically. Then smiled. "Wait! I know, you can come back with me, then we can get help from bigger people."

"Come back with you? To where? Your village?"

She merely laughed again. "There is only one, look!" And with that she touched the ground at her feet. A shimmering pool seemed to open up below her, and she fell into it with a squeal. Edgar looked horrified.

"Hey!" He shouted, diving after her.

* * *

Edgar quickly learned that things were not the same here as they were on Lyndbaum. For one it seemed any angel could open a path to this city, as it didn't truly exist on the plane, more like between it. As far as he could gather, the same was true of the devil city. The young angel had taken him to meet someone whose name was never given, indeed nobody seemed to call anyone by name here. The man looked quite intimidating, his feathered wings looking as sharp as steel. He had his own questions for Edgar, and he seemed to be looking through him as he talked. After Edgar had told the basics of his story (He left out the part of her soul being half devil.) the elderly angel nodded at him.

"I see, so you have come to restore a fractured soul…hmmm, a difficult task."

Edgar took a step back from this. "How did you know-?"

"That you were hear to reclaim the fractured piece of the soul that is the biggest anomaly for this entire plane? Age brings more benefits then merely being wise Edge Fencer."

Edgar shouldn't have been surprised he knew this too, but he still couldn't help it. At the mention of this there was cheerful talking and chattering behind them, people weren't even bothering trying to keep their voices down.

"I heard he saved an entire island and even saved the Silturn god."

"Really? Wow, that guy is supposed to be really tough, I wonder how strong he is then."

"Yeah!"

Edgar spoke up at last, more then a little uncomfortable. "Well, you know my name, but I don't know how I should address you…"

At this everything got very quiet. Some people looked offended, the elderly man, however, looked to Edgar and explained.

"We do not have names until our kind are summoned. The name is a way of binding us in service and allowing magical effects to target us. When we are here, we exist as one. Though only the purest of heart can ever summon an angel to their realm, the idea of a name could be considered an insult. However, the name actually becomes the problem for you and for us. You see, there is one here who is not one with their group. One who is devil by technicality, but is not united with them as the others are. As such, our safe guards to keep them from causing trouble do not effect them."

"Safe guards?" Edgar echoed.

"Did you not think it odd that this plane is not constantly covered in war? Angels and Devils cannot co exist…usually." He added the last word with a half smile. "So in ages past, the two portions of this realm split apart, a barrier between them. Neither of us can cross it. But this soul, it can. This is tipping the delicate balance of this plane, and it must be balanced. Which is why, Edge Fencer, I must ask you to do this for us. Besides, you doing this will help both of our ends."

It dawned to Edgar almost immediately.

"You mean that devil running around causing chaos…"

"Yes, it is her. Or rather, the piece of her you are looking for. I pray for your success, but you are attempting to convince a devil, masters of trickery and deceit, to return willingly to your world, and share a body with it's mortal enemy. I must be honest because we can speak no lies, your chances are not good."

Edgar thought for a moment and then looked up.

"You can read my mind right?"

"Well, I suppose you could call it that, for lack of a better explanation."

"Then you already know that I came here regardless of the chances."

"And you reason for doing it, Edge Fencer, is why we are helping you. The strongest power in the universe drives you, you will not fail."

He moved aside and drew his hand in a circle, making a shimmering portal of light in the air.

"She should be here, among the emerald fields. Good luck."

Edgar walked through without looking back.


	8. Someone to Love

Ok, I put this off long enough. Time to end it.

Lumino proudly presents:

I have no choice: Finale

"Someone to Love"

* * *

Edgar felt his body being pulled forward. It was an odd feeling, almost like the conveyer belts in the ruined factory, but this felt like it had snagged him behind his chest and was pulling him like on a fishing line. As he moved through this portal of blurred light, he heard the old man's voice echoing around him.

"You must know, Edge Fencer. This realm did not always house angels and devils. We were once our own race, but the actions of ancient times forced our species to divide their good and evil halves. Every angel has a devil counterpart, one soul, divided into two. If one were to die, so to would the other, to maintain the balance of the world. Similarly, when one is summoned to your world, the other responds to summoning much more easily. These two halves, they are similar in all ways, including the names. The name you know her by, is the name of the united soul, not either true name. Learn that name, it holds power."

Silence for a moment, then one more piece was heard. "I trust you with half of the true name, Mona. It means 'Noble little one.'."

As Edgar soared through the darkness, he thought. The true name? The old man did say that names held the summon creatures to their place when they were summoned, but that meant that it was a name Halavard gave her. But Halavard had never used her name when he fought her. He always called her Dinah, so how could he know? He muttered the half of the name he had.

"Mona..." He thought. What name could it possibly be? What kind of clue was that? The world afforded him no more thought though, as he felt his feet touch down on solid ground. He found himself in the grassy fields once again, looking over their endless growth. His reflection was interrupted by a high pitched shriek. He turned immediately and saw something off in the distance. There was a small fairy being held up, by her hair of all things, and grasping her was a tall, quite beautiful women, that Edgar got the feeling he knew. She didn't look like Dinah though...

Without thinking he ran forward to where the women held up the small fairy, which was squirming and kicking, trying to get her to let go.

"Let her go!" He shouted, quickly realizing that he didn't have any weapons with him, just his hammer. He held that is his hand, trying hard to not look worried. The women turned to look at him, and as he got a good look at her face, he came to realize what he saw.

It was the face of Halavard's summon creature from that vision. The succubus, the vile seductress. And she dropped the fairy as she turned to look at Edgar with a wide grin.

"Oooooh." She cooed delighted. "A human, my my, it has been quite a long time since I've got to spend some 'time' with a human." She said, seeming to slither towards him with a seductive smile on her face. Edgar looked at her, on one hand he was angry, but then he felt something else, pity.

"I-Is that it?" He asked incredulously. "Your so lonely that you a-" Before he could finish though her brow furrowed in anger and she launched a lance of ice at him. Edgar was surprised, and struck in the shoulder. He fell back onto the grass, but immediately stood up again.

"I'd advise you to leave me, boy! I know who you are, I know why you came here, and I have no desire to go back! You can't force me to go back to that body!"

Edgar merely said in reply. "I came here to get you back, to save her life. And I need you to do that."

The devil wagged her finger. "Fool, no you don't. I could do it right now, I could just snip the tie between our souls and leave you alone with the little angel, deal?"

Edgar was shocked, but thought for a minute. "For one...I don't want an angel or a devil, I want Dinah back." He said flatly. "And for another, you can't sever the soul that easily."

Again he face contorted with anger. "You fool! Of course I can! I could do it the second that human banished me!"

Edgar felt a smile form on his lips as he took a step towards her, it was a ray of hope. He looked so determined and pleased that the devil took a half step back. "Then why? Why didn't you?"

She was stunned, she couldn't even seem to answer, so Edgar continued. "You could have split your soul off, you could have made it so I couldn't track you, but you didn't. You wanted me to find you, you wanted me to come after you, and you want to go back." He said.

"N-No!" She shouted, her voice becoming less stable. "I won't, you'll have to make me! And you don't even know who I am!" She said taking a defiant step forward. Now it was Edgar's turn to take a step back. And she was right, the old man said he would need her true name, but how was he supposed to know it? Then he heard a voice in his head, one he recognized, but didn't remember.

"_Edgar, listen."_

He heard a different voice now, one he remembered. Halavard. He saw, instead of the green meadow, what seemed to be a dungeon of some sort, with a ritual summoning circle. There was Halvard in the middle of it.

"In the name of Greitzhelm I summon you, devil of Sapureth! Come to me my servant!" And there she was, in front of him. He smiled his evil smirk. "A succubus eh? Very well demon, I bind this pact with the name..."

And then he was in the meadow again, in front of the devil, a smile on his face. He had no idea what had happened, but now he knew.

She looked worried. Why was he smiling? "You...what are you-?"

"Because I _do_ know your true name, and if what the old man said was true, while we are on this plane it controls you."

The devil looked panicked. "You...You're lying! There is no way someone as clueless as you could know!"

Edgar had a rueful smile on as he looked at her. He wished it was as easy as it seemed, but there was still a chance he would be going home alone. "Your true name is...

Desdemona."

Silence as the wind ripped across the fields of grass, she stood there thunderstruck. She lowered her head and then spoke. "You won." She admitted dejected. "What is your order...master?" She seemed pained by the last word. Edgar, for his part walked over to the women, who was more then a foot taller then him, and lifted her chin up. He said nothing though.

"Well, do you wish me to return to that body?" She asked, growing a little impatient.

Silence still, then Edgar spoke, clearly and with conviction.

"No I don't."

If she looked thunderstruck before, now she was outright shocked. Had he just come all this way, and figured out her true name, all for what? Nothing? But Edgar continued.

"I was you to return, yes. But I'm not going to force you. I never forced my guardian beast to do anything, and I'm not going to start now. The choice is yours."

She looked away, as quickly as she could. Her voice shook as she spoke. "W-well I suppose...I w-won't get bored at l-least." She said. "Ok then."

"Ok then." Edgar affirmed, and he knew what to do. It ran in his blood, and he'd seen it done numerous times before. "Then in the name of Colthearts, I return you to your physical body, Desdemona." He said, holding out the summonite gem in his palm. And with a flash of light she was gone. It was only then that he realized the one problem he had never solved.

"Now, how do I get back?" He said, confused. But that same voice as before came into his head.

"_I'll help you Edgar, but now we are even."_

And he felt his feet pulled away from him again as he fell through the weird portal again.

* * *

Several days later...

It had been a very emotional reunion when they returned to town. All of them. Dinah back to her old self, though obviously she was a little shaken from the ordeal, and Edgar having on hell of a story to tell. Master Blaire had decided that they should be allowed to rest for a night before everyone attacked them with questions and concerns, but Edgar was feeling restless. And whenever Edgar was restless, he went to the same place. He arrived at the place where it all started. He'd lived here, he'd met Ryouga and Dinah here. There were a lot of fond memories tied to this place. And here she was, under the stars, staring up at the sky. She heard him approach and turned around.

"Oh sorry." She said, and began to fly off back to the village.

"Why do you have to leave?" Edgar asked. "I don't mind."

Dinah looked smug and said. "Well if you want me to stay, I guess I will." Edgar just smiled and shrugged. She never changed.

"A-anyway.." She began to say. "I had something I had to say to you..."

It was unlike her to be this forward, and he looked at her seriously. "Sure, what is it Dinah."

"Well, um...I wanted to say, uhh...thanks." She mumbled.

Edgar blinked once or twice, was that it? "You are welcome Dinah, you know I'd watch out for you." He said and looked towards the sky. After a few minutes of painful silence he turned towards the stairs. "I think I'm going to head back now." He said and took a few steps.

Inside Dinah's head a war was raging.

_I told you to tell him!_

_I can't ok?! I just can't!_

_Fine! Then I will!_

_Oh no you won't! I won't let you!_

"Edgar!" She called out, louder then she intended, but she was having trouble controlling her emotions. Edgar turned to look at her, and noticed some tell tale signs. Her fists were clenched and her brow was furrowed in concentration. She was fighting with her other side. Edgar took a step forward and reached out.

"Dinah? What is it?"

With her eyes still clenched shut and her fists at her sides, shaking.

"I love you!"

Edgar was surprised, to find that the taste of her lips reminded him of the sea.

Fin


End file.
